Godot Engine 4.0’s editor will run in your web browser
The Godot Engine development team have announced that with the upcoming version 4.0, the editor for the open-source game engine will be capable of running in a web browser.
The work, which is being funded through a $50,000 sponsorship deal from Mozilla, is intended to improve the engine’s HTML5 output, and will be provided in parallel to the offline editor.
A working prototype of the in-browser editor based on Godot 3.2 is already available to test online.
Use the Godot editor in a web browser when working on the move
According to a post on the Godot Engine blog, Godot Engine 4.0 will deliver “an almost-native user experience when running the editor on the web”.
As well as improving Godot’s capabilities for developing and publishing HTML5 games, the work is intended to make it possible to use the engine in situations where it is not possible to install the native editor.
Suggested use cases include working on the move on tablet devices, and using Godot in studios or schools where software use policies prohibit the installation of new applications.
The in-browser version will be provided in parallel to the native editor, which the development team says “will always be our main focus”.
Also due in Godot 4.0: new Vulkan rendering backend, real-time GI, new GPU lightmapper
Other changes planned for Godot 4.0 include the long-planned transition of the engine’s rendering backend from OpenGL ES 3.0 to the newer Vulkan API.
New artist features will include real-time global illumination, a new GPU-based lightmapper, and a new dynamic sky sytem. You can find more feature previews on the development blog.
System requirements and availability
A prototype of the in-browser editor based on the current stable release, Godot 3.2, is already available and can be accessed online here.
Due to the web technologies it uses, particularly the JavaScript SharedArrayBuffer, you will need either a nightly build of Firefox to use it, or a recent Chromium-based browser like Chrome, Edge or Opera.
The Godot team hasn’t announced a release date for Godot Engine 4.0 itself.
Read more about Godot Engine’s new in-browser editor on the engine’s development blog
Try running Godot Engine in a web browser with the early prototype of the new editor